“A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers.”
Source: The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), Part One, Chapter V
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John Steinbeck 366
American writer 1902–1968Related quotes
Source: What I Saw At Shiloh (1881), I
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 193
"From a Chain letter to George R. R. Martin and Greg Benford", 10 July 1982; as published in Castle of Days (1992)
Nonfiction
Geek Speak Magazine Interview (2010)
Context: You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
Villemain (1845)
Source: His Dark Materials, The Amber Spyglass (2000), Ch. 32 : Morning
Context: One of the ghosts — an old woman — beckoned, urging her to come close.
Then she spoke, and Mary heard her say:
"Tell them stories. They need the truth. You must tell them true stories, and everything will be well, just tell them stories."
That was all, and then she was gone. It was one of those moments when we suddenly recall a dream that we’ve unaccountably forgotten, and back in a flood comes all the emotion we felt in our sleep. It was the dream she’d tried to describe to Atal, the night picture; but as Mary tried to find it again, it dissolved and drifted apart, just as these presences did in the open air. The dream was gone.
All that was left was the sweetness of that feeling, and the injunction to tell them stories.
Travis Parker, Proloque, p. 1
Source: 2000s, The Choice (2007)